Procuring of stores by Army chief
Defence Ministry to probe Northern Command scam

KAPURTHALA (PUNJAB), Mar 15: The Defence Ministry would probe all irregularities in procuring the stores for the Army during the tenure of Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor in Jammu and Kashmir and take action against all those found guilty, Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said here today.

The Ministry has taken a serious note of the Comptroller and Auditor General report censuring Gen Kapoor for making frivolous purchases like bush cutters and grass cutting machines during his tenure as Northern Command General Officer -in Commanding in Chief, Raju told reporters here.

Replying to a question about alleged involvement of five Army officials, including a Brigadier, who were chargesheeted by Jammu and Kashmir Police for siphoning off kerosene and diesel meant for troops in Siachen, he said these were "unfortunate" incidents and action would be taken against the officials found guilty in the inquiry.

Pallam Raju said sending spies across the borders had never been a policy of the Indian Armed forces.

"With modern survelliance gadgets avaliable, the question of utilising the services of human beings for spying activities does not arise", he said when his attention was drawn to Kashmir Singh of Hoshiarpur district, who on his return from Pakistan after 35 years in detention, claimed that he was recruited as a spy by the Army.

Mr Raju said that the Army did not indulge in such spying activities.

"The border crossers could be smugglers or could be those hired by other agencies", he quipped.

On the issue of POWs, the Minister said that the matter would be taken up with the elected Government of Pakistan, after it assumes office.

"We will do whatever we can for their release", he added.

When his attention was drawn to the Saichen diesel/kerosene scam following indictment of certain Army officers, he termed it as a ‘sad’ incident. However, overall the Indian Armed forces have a very good image, he added.

On the claims and counter claims of retired defence personnel on the battle of Longewal (Rajasthan) in the 1971 war, Mr Raju said though the Indian Air Force (IAF) had done an excellent job, the role of the Army just cannot be overlooked. " After all a handful of Armymen stood against the might of the enemy to defend a post", he added.

The Minister denied reports of ‘thining out’ of the Army in J&K, saying that it was just part of the exercise to relocate certain units. He, however, felt that internal security duties should be left to the local police or the para military forces.

An upgradation of the Sainik Schools was needed so as to produce more officers for the armed forces, he added.

Regarding the Punjab Governments demand for compensation to those farmers of border areas on whose land defence structure had been constructed during the Kargil war, Mr Raju said a large part of the compensation had already been given. However, if there were cases then these can been forwarded to his Ministry, he added.

The Minister, who was latter honoured with a ‘siropa’ by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Avtar Singh Makkar, responded positively to the demand that valuable and historical books from the Sikh Reference Library of the Golden Temple, which were taken away by the Army during "Operation Bluestar", should be returned to the SGPC. When Jathedar Makkar pointed out that these were lying with the Army at Meerut, the Minister assured to take up this matter at the appropriate level.

The SGPC chief demanded that the quota of Sikhs in the Armed forces should be increased. The Minister was quick to reply that the Government had always looked to Punjab for the defence of the country. (Agencies)

People will travel to Rawalpindi, Islamabad: Baig
Mehbooba seeks 6 years governance for PDP

Excelsior Correspondent

Srinagar, Mar 15: People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president, Ms Mehbooba Mufti today said given the unparalleled performance of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as the Chief Minister, the people across the State are today recognizing him as a distinctive leader with a vision and a commitment to deliver.

"People across the board are now convinced that only Mr Sayeed has the capability and commitment to pull Jammu & Kashmir out of the morass and put it on the path of political stability and economic prosperity," she said.

Launching the party's pre-election mass contact program at a public meeting at Batamalloo, the PDP president said even though he headed the coalition Government for a very short span of three years, Mr Sayeed has left indelible landmarks of his impeccable performance not only at the ground but on the public minds as well. "Even his detractors today explicitly concede that Mufti’s tenure as the Chief Minister was no less than a golden era of the State," she said and added during that period the State had vibrantly started radiating the vibes of peace and prosperity not only across its three regions but to the whole South Asia as well.

Ms Mufti said with 16 legislators in its kitty and 3 years of governance, amid difficult circumstances, the PDP has done what the National Conference couldn't achieve in 30 years with around 60 legislators in the House. "Give us six years and see how we are going to transform your lives," she told the gathering. She said the PDP is the only party that has voiced, with unwavering consistency, the issues concerning fate of the State and its people at various forums, despite facing stiff opposition from various quarters. "And today we are more than satisfied to see that the principled stand taken by the party on the issues concerning the people is being widely acknowledged," she said and added that this public recognition of the party's contribution in transforming the State's security and developmental scenario is the PDP's greatest strength.

The PDP leader asserted that the party would continue its struggle for the restoration of the political and economic rights of the people of the State. She said greatest challenge before the party is ensuring social and economic security of the State's youth, who have underwent a trail of miseries because of the turmoil. "We are approaching the problems of our youth in a holistic manner so that they not only draw maximum benefits from the spiraling economic opportunities but are also trying to create enabling social conditions for our educated unemployed young boys and girls," she said and added that at the same time the party would continue to work for rehabilitation of all those families, irrespective of their affiliation, adversely affected by the turmoil.

Addressing the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig said the PDP's alliance with Congress is based on the principle that both the party's would work together for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue without compromising the honour and dignity of the people of Jammu & Kashmir. He said in tune with the PDP's agenda, the Congress supported all initiatives taken in this regard by the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and later carried forward by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. "And let me tell you the time is not far away when you will be traveling to Rawalpindi and Islamabad as you are presently traveling to Jammu or Delhi," he said and added that not only the people of Jammu & Kashmir but the whole region are behind the peace process and it has to reach to its logical conclusion with amicable settlement of the problems plaguing region's growth.

Mr Baig said the peace process could have by now made tremendous progress if Mufti Sayeed would have continued as the Chief Minister. "However, as per our agreement with the Congress, we had to handover the chair to that party," he said and added that with stabilization of the political situation in Pakistan the peace process is going to regain pace bringing stability and prosperity not only to Jammu & Kashmir but the whole region.

Launching a scathing attack on the National Conference, the Deputy Chief Minister said the NC leadership has, on crucial occasions of the State's history, traded honour and dignity of the people of the State for power.

He said the PDP came into existence, under the gifted leadership of Mufti Sayeed, with sole objective of ridding the people of the NC's exploitative tantrums. "And I think we have to a large extent succeeded in that noble objective," he said and added that the coming elections would be crucial for future of the State and people must exercise their vote with great caution so that they do not fall into the hands of the same exploitative elements who even didn't desist from misusing the wealth of the Muslim Auqaf Trust for their personal luxuries.

"Mufti Sahab has in three years gifted the State with two Islamic Universities out of the same Auqaf funds from which NC couldn't build a primary school during past 50 years," he said and added that even today the NC leaders' only concern is how to grab power and that pursuit they are pleading for power, sometimes before Rahul Gandhi and other times making rounds around Azad Sahab. "But perhaps they are yet to understand that power lies in hands of the people and not anywhere else," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, senior PDP leader and Minister for Finance & Housing, Tariq Hameed Qarra said PDP has played a vital role in transforming developmental profile of Srinagar city and Batamalloo has today become a role model for other constituencies in the city, he said it would add to restore magnificent glory of the city that has been unfortunately changed into a cesspool by the past regimes.

Mr Qarra accused NC leadership of exploiting the people of Srinagar city for votes without giving anything substantial to them in terms of development. "NC has all these years exploited the people of Srinagar politically, economically and socially," he said and added that now the time has come when they would be accounted for their exploitative tantrums. "The people of Srinagar have now tasted development and they will not get carried away by emotive slogans," he said and added that, of late, NC has again started raising the bugle of autonomy just to befool the masses. "Where was their autonomy, when they were in absolute majority in the Assembly in 1975 and 1977," he asked.

Squarely blaming the NC for the death and destruction that took place in the State after the massive rigging of 1987 elections, Mr Qarra said out of frustration the NC leadership has now started brandishing the whole Muslim community as terrorists. He said in Kashmir, NC leadership is vainly trying to sympathize with the suffering people here, while in Jammu they are in league with BJP as they ensured the victory of the BJP mayoral candidate in the recent elections there. "Even today Dr Farooq Abdullah was the chief guest at a function organized by the Shiv Sena in Jammu," he said.

Mr Qarra said scared by his performance and its impact on Srinagar, NC vainly resorted to a vilification campaign against him but have miserably failed in this misadventure as well. "I know my people are with me," he said and added that any effort by NC to tarnish his image would boomerang on their face.

38 Prosecuting Officers transferred, adjusted

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 15: Director General of Police (DGP) today ordered transfer and adjustment of 38 Special Prosecuting Officers (SPOs).

Ajay Kumar has been posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Vigilance Organization against a vacancy while Mohd Saleem was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Courts, Pulwama, Vijay Sudan has been posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Courts, Rajouri.

Anil Kumar Gandotra was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Crime and Railways Jammu against the post of SPO CID Cell New Delhi, already attached with Crime and Railways. Syed Jehangir Ahmed was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Vigilance Organization vice Bhupinder Singh.

Ranjeev Kumar has been posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer SKPA Udhampur, while Manzar Khayam was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Courts Poonch. Rajesh Sharma was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer PTS Kathua vice Bachan Lal.

Himanshu Prakash has been posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer SKPA Udhampur. Shafat Ahmad was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Courts, Srinagar while Najeeb Hassan Nahvi was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Crime, Kashmir.

Jatinder Kumar has been posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer CID CI Jammu. Aijaz Ahmad was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer PTS Manigam vice Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar while Mohd Amir Almansoor was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer PHQ.

Rohit Gupta has been posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer, Vigilance Organization. Anil Dev Jamwal was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Courts, district Jammu against the post of SPO SKPA Udhampur, a post attached with district Jammu, Syed Sareer Ahmad was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Vigilance Organization.

Taimoor Jehangir has been posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Courts, Leh while Koushal Kumar was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer district Jammu vice Rajesh Gill. Bandhana Jamwal was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer RPHQ Jammu vice Ashish Rathore.

Abdul Rashid has been posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Courts, Awantipora while Syed Mushtaq Ahmad was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Courts, Srinagar, Tahseem Bashir was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Courts, Budgam.

Sajid Hussain has been posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Traffic Headquarters. Romesh Chander was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer Courts, Kathua vice Ishtiyaq Bhatti.

Bhupinder Singh, SPO Vigilance has been transferred and posted as SPO PTS Kathua while Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar, SPO PTS Manigam was transferred and posted as SPO Courts, Baramulla. Irshad Ahmad Sheikh, SPO Courts Ramban was transferred and posted as SPO Doda vice Kishor Kumar.

Afaq Ahmad, SPO SKPA Udhampur has been transferred and posted as SPO Kulgam. Ishtiyaq Bhatti, SPO Kathua was transferred and posted as SPO HG/CD and Aux. Police Hqrs against the post of SPO SKPA Udhampur. Ashish Rathore, SPO RPHQ was transferred and posted as SPO Jammu against the post of SPO SKPA Udhampur.

Meena Gowhar, SPO Courts Srinagar has been transferred and posted as SPO Budgam vice Zameer Ahmad. Zameer Ahmad, SPO Courts Budgam was transferred and posted as SPO Courts, Srinagar vice Meena Gowhar. Surinder Kumar, SPO PHQ was transferred alongwith post and posted as SPO in Directorate of Police Telecommunication.

Bachan Lal, SPO PTS Kathua has been transferred and posted as SPO CID Hqrs. Rajesh Gill, SPO Courts Jammu was transferred and posted as SPO SKPA Udhampur while Ranjit Bahadur Bandral, SPO SKPA Udhampur was transferred and posted as SPO Courts Ramban vice Irshad Ahmad. Kishor Kumar Bandral, SPO Courts Doda was transferred and posted as SPO Kishtwar against the post of SPO Kargil.

BOSE cancels exam, orders inquiry
10th class paper leaked

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 15: State Board of School Education (BOSE) today cancelled the 10th class examination after the reported leakage of the question paper of Home and Life Sciences and ordered an inquiry into the matter to expose the nexus behind the same.

Sources said that Chairman of BOSE, Prof Nissar Ahmed Ganai received an information from the Pir Mitha Police Station at around 7 am that the question paper pertaining to Science-II (Life Science) subject of the 10th Class has been leaked and a youth has been caught with a question paper.

Acting promptly, Prof Ganai immediately notified the cancellation of the examination paper and sought the copy of paper seized from the possession of the youth, the sources disclosed, adding after comparison of the seized question paper with those circulated by the Board to the Superintendents of the examination centres, the Chairman got a case registered with the police.

Minister of State for School Education G M Saroori, Secretary School Education Department G A Peer, Chairman of BOSE Prof Ganai and Secretary Dr Veena Rajput took serious note of the leakage of the question paper and ordered an enquiry into the matter.

When contacted, Prof Ganai said "we have received complaints that today’s paper—Home and Life Sciences had been leaked and accordingly we ordered cancellation of the examination of the papers", adding "the examination of this paper has now been rescheduled for March 29". He, however, said that all other examinations of the 10th class will be conducted as per schedule.

He said that an enquiry committee headed by Prof V K Gupta, Joint Secretary (Secrecy) and comprising of Joint Secretaries S S Slathia and V K Kandari has been constituted to look into the matter. "The Committee has been directed to complete the enquiry within a week and fix the responsibility so that the culprits are brought to book and stern action including termination of their services could be taken against them", he added.

Chairman further said that the Committee has also been asked to incorporate suggestions in order to avoid such recurrence of leakage in future.

To a question, he said that five of the questions mentioned in the paper recovered from the possession of a youth by the police were similar to those mentioned in the question paper prepared by the Board.

He disclosed that the Superintendents of the examination centres in remote areas get the question papers three to four days ahead of the examination date while in the city areas they get the same hours before the scheduled timing of the examination.

"The possibility of leakage of papers through the Superintendents in rural areas cannot be ruled out", he said, adding "we will break the nexus within next few days".

Meanwhile, examination for Class 8th was also cancelled by Education Department in Kishtwar and Ramban districts last evening following reports of leakage of paper.

The department has already instituted an inquiry to pin point the officials responsible for the leakage of paper in the districts where examination began from March 12.

Modi, Digvijay, Farooq hope vote bank politics will end

NEW DELHI, Mar 15: Three senior politicians have regretted that Indian political parties routinely resorted to "vote bank politics" and hoped that the new generation of leaders and voters would help to end this malaise by adopting a development-oriented agenda.

Speaking on "leadership to end vote bank politics" at the India Today conclave here last night, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and former Chief Ministers Digvijay Singh of Madhya Pradesh and Farooq Abdullah of Jammu & Kashmir, however, conceded that this would not be an easy goal to achieve, given the state of Indian politics.

Mr Modi, who retained power with a brute majority in the recent Assembly elections in Gujarat, claimed his victory was entirely because he pursued an agenda of development and did not seek to divide the electorate on the basis of religion or caste, despite the tag of "merchant of death" put on him by the Congress for his alleged role in the 2002 post-Godhra communal violence in the State.

The Gujarat Chief Minister asserted that only those politicians who could not show concrete results in the area of development and who failed to meet the aspirations of the common man resorted to vote bank politics.

"It is a short cut they adopt for temporary gains," he said, adding that, in the process, national interests and national security were often compromised, citing the example of how the problem of illegal migrants from Bangladesh into Assam was handled by the Congress Government.

Reeling out statistics to show how Gujarat had progressed on various fronts—agriculture, industry, power generation and employment—under his stewardship, Mr Modi claimed he did not need to stoop to such tactics.

To repeated applause from the audience, Mr Modi claimed that his Government’s developmental programmes were aimed at all 5.5 crore Gujaratis and not at any particular religious, caste or economic group.

"Politicians must perform and seek votes on that basis," he said.

Asked if the "merchant of death" tag, used by Congress president Sonia Gandhi against him had helped him win the elections, Mr Modi sought to make light of the whole thing by saying that such phrases did crop up during election campaigns.

"I did not really benefit from it. If anything, it helped the Congress, because after they lost the elections badly, they suddenly had an Alibi, saying that they would have won but for that phrase."

Mr Singh, All India Congress Committee General Secretary, acknowledged that development programmes were an important factor but often not enough to ensure re-election, as witnessed by his own defeat in Madhya Pradesh after a widely acclaimed decade in office.

Apart from the anti-incumbency factor, he felt he had lost because he had taken "strong steps" to reduce non-plan expenditure, which earned him the ire of State Government employees.

Dr Abdullah felt that divisive politics practised by other parties had ensured his defeat despite a good track record. He said one of the major reasons for his defeat was that he had got the prevention of terrorist activities law passed in the J&K Assembly to crush militancy.

According to him, politicians had sought to divide the people of india on the basis of caste, religion and region in practically every election since independence.

Dr Abdullah also felt that charisma had a big role to play in politics and made special mention of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajapyee, who could sway the masses with their personalities.

About the late Mr Gandhi, he said, "he was a great leader. If he had not died, the BJP would not have come to power for multiple years."

Mr Singh said political leaders could succeed only when policies and personality were combined to convince people about their programmes. He said the Indian ethos of the politics of inclusion was the only way to end vote bank politics. On the issue of reservation, he said the time had come to think of a way of excluding the creamy layer from the benefits of such a policy so that the disparity between the rich and the poor could be reduced. (PTI)

Half of surveillance cameras out of order

By Sanjeev Pargal

JAMMU, Mar 15: Half of 16 Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras installed in the City to keep a surveillance on militants have gone out of order within a year of their installation, according to official sources.

Eight surveillance cameras, installed at sensitive Chowks within the City limits, were not working for last more than a month, sources admitted.

They said the delay in setting right the CCTV cameras was due to a row between the Company, which had installed cameras, and the police agency monitoring their operations—the Police Control Room (PCR).

While the Company claimed that one year warranty of the cameras has expired (it took the date to calculate one year when the cameras were purchased by police authorities), the monitoring agency wanted the warranty date to be taken into account from the day the cameras were installed.

SSP PCR Shakeel Beig, Incharge of monitoring surveillance cameras, has taken a very serious note of delay in repair of the surveillance equipments which has rendered the very purpose of their installation as irrelevant. After vigorously pursuing the case, a deal has reportedly been struck with the Company for repair of the cameras at the earliest, sources said, adding the repair work has started.

All out of order surveillance cameras were expected to be back in action very soon, sources said.

It may be mentioned here that to keep a hawk’s eye on every movement in sensitive areas in the City, police authorities had installed surveillance cameras at 16 places notably at Raghunath Mandir, Jewel Chowk, Town Hall, Police Headquarters, CPO Chowk, Shaheedhi Chowk, Raj Bhawan, Indira Chowk, Vikram Chowk, Satwari, Janipur, Railway Station and Gandhi Nagar etc.

Out of 16 CCTV sets, eight had stopped functioning during the past one to two months.

The surveillance cameras, according to sources, had been providing very useful information to police especially during processions, traffic jams, accidents and other untoward incidents. As the cameras had 360 degree revolution, their pictures keep a strict vigil on every movement in sensitive areas, which was very significant from security point of view, sources said.

The Global Positioning System (GPS), installed in the PCR, has also been keeping Flying Squads and SHOs on tenterhooks with their movement being monitored in GPS fitted vehicles all across the City.

Sources said the police authorities have decided to bring more left out areas in the City under the ambit of surveillance cameras shortly as a part of strengthening security measures.

Work on Katra rail track stalled

PHAGWARA, Mar 15: Divisional Railway Manager (DRM)(Ferozpur) Satish Kumar today said the work on Jammu-Katra rail section had been stalled following a "technical snag" at a tunnel between Jammu and Udhampur.

The rail link could take up to two years to complete and a consultant has been engaged from Austria for rectifying the snag, Mr Kumar said, pointing out that water was seeping into the tunnel.

Talking to mediapersons, he said that while work on the Jammu-Udhampur rail line had been completed the difficulty between Udhampur-Katra rail line arose after water seepage into the tunnel.

About installation of tracks on remaining parts of Katra-Srinagar section, the DRM said railways was facing several technical problems in installation of rail lines as the railways had to construct a 400 metres height railway bridge on Chenab river. He said the work on Qazigund-Baramulla section would be completed in one year, while 70 km Anantnag-Rajwansher section would be ready in next six months. He further said railways would soon construct 40 km long Mannawala-Patti rail section to start Amritsar-Firozepur rail section.

He disclosed that nine railway stations of Firozpur division-Phagwara, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar Cantt, Jammu Tawi, Chakki Bank, Beas and Firozpur-would be made as "Model Stations" to provide ultra-modern facilities to rail passengers.

On the increasing incidents of accidents at unmanned level crossings, he said in the Ferozpur division, 570 unmanned level crossings would be converted into manned in phases. He said 42 unmanned level crossings were converted into manned during last year while 35 would be converted this year. He said 18 unmanned crossings were identified which would be closed permanently.

On increasing encroachments on railway’s properties, Mr Kumar said railways had set up ‘Railways Land Development Authority’ to remove the encroachments and to develop the railway land for commercial purposes. Anti-encroachment drive would soon be launched to remove illegal encroachments, he added.

The DRM claimed that income of Firozpur division had been increased by 15 per cent compared to last year. (UNI)

Lala Shiv Charan passes away

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 15: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former MLA from Udhampur, Shiv Charan Gupta passed away late last night after a prolonged illness. His cremation took place at Devika Ghat cremation ground here this afternoon.

He was 83 and is survived by three sons and four daughters.

Mr Gupta was shifted to Government Medical College Hospital last evening following sudden deterioration in his condition and at around 1 am he died.

A large number of people from all walks of life attended the funeral procession and last rites of the Senior BJP leader at Devika Ghat cremation ground.

Prominent among them were Minister for Health and Medical Education Mangat Ram Sharma, former MP and senior BJP leader Chaman Lal Gupta, State BJP president Ashok Khajuria, Mayor of Jammu Municipal Corporation Kavinder Gupta, National Conference Legislators Ajay Sadhotra and T S Wazir, JKNPP legislators Prof Bhim Singh, Harsh Dev Singh, Faqir Nath and Balwant Singh Mankotia, Udhampur Beopar Mandal president Ramanand Baria, senior BJP leader Som Raj Khajuria and president Associated Chamber of Commerce Sham Saroop Kalsotra.

According to the PDP spokesman, Minister of State for Health Peer Mohammad Hussain represented party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the funeral procession.

The departed leader represented the Udhampur constituency four times in the State Legislative Assembly and won the elections first time in 1962 on Jan Sangh ticket.

Several organisations including different units of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) organised condolence meetings and prayed the Almighty God to rest the soul in the peace.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has condoled the demise of former Legislator and recalled the contribution of the leader Mr Gupta as a legislator and political leader. He said that late leader would be remembered for his services to the people.National Conference patron and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah and party president Omar Abdullah also expressed deep shock over the sad demise of Gupta and extended heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family.

Address Kashmir urgently: Malik

NEW DELHI, Mar 15: Kashmiri separatist leader Yaseen Malik today criticised Pakistani leader Asif Ali Zardari for his view that the Kashmir issue should be left for future generations to resolve, saying the dispute needed to be addressed urgently.

Malik said the issue should be resolved taking into account the views of the people of India and Pakistan besides the aspirations of Kashmiris.

The JKLF leader, who aired the views while participating in the ‘Youth Forum’ session at the India Today conclave here, was, however, reminded by bollywood actress Preity Zinta that "India starts with Kashmir and ends with Kanyakumari".

As Kashmiri pandits protested outside the venue of the conclave against Malik’s participation in the programme, the separatist leader said he was very distressed over Zardari’s comments and also that it has been well received by the media and in public discourse.

"Atal Bihari Vajpayee and current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have stated in Kashmir that the issue will be resolved soon. There should be no going back on that," he said.

"How can the issue be passed on along with a brand new nuclear arsenal to yet another generation?" Malik asked.

Replying to a question, Malik said his vision was about a Kashmir that is an independent and sovereign country and he was confident that it could survive economically.

"Kashmir is a stumbling block when it comes to having peace in South Asia. We need to find a solution to this problem. And in doing so, we have to take into account the public opinion in Pakistan and India and also the aspirations of the people of Kashmir," Malik said.

There was some drama at the session featuring Malik as all of a sudden after one of the panelists Vikram Akula finished his presentation and before the JKLF leader spoke, a man got up and vociferously opposed his presence at the dais.

"Why are you not allowing young boys and girls to protest peacefully against this terrorist?" he shouted, expressing solidarity with the Kashmiri pandits protesting against Malik outside the conclave venue. He was immediately taken out of the hall. (PTI)

Financial investors visit Valley

Excelsior Correspondent

Srinagar, Mar 15: A group of world’s leading financial investors, currently on a two-day visit to Kashmir to look for investment opportunities in the State, met Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad here last evening and discussed some potential areas for investment.

Deputy Chief Minister, Muzaffar Hussain Baig, Minister for Finance, Tariq Hameed Qarra and Economic Advisor to Government and Chairman, J&K Bank, Dr. Haseeb Drabu also joined the interactive session with the visiting investors.

The group comprised investors from US and UK including Capital Group, Fidelity, First State Investors and Federated Investors, collectively controlling businesses worth $ 30 trillion around the globe.

The Chief Minister briefed foreign investors about improved security scenario in the State, especially in Kashmir, and told them that areas like hydro electricity, financial services and off-shore banking offered great opportunities for investment here. He said the State was safe for investment and he looked forward to their positive response.

The group appreciated efforts of the Government towards development and peace process. During next six to seven months, they would be firming up their plan and drafting a blue print on how foreign investors could participate in development of the State.

Talking about the visit of foreign investors to Kashmir, Dr. Drabu said that they were on tour of the country and had already visited Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Cochin and Kolkata before coming here. He said the purpose of their visit was to explore potential of investment in the States they were visiting. He said they were the world’s largest fund managers who had meetings here. He said they also discussed setting up of international financial centre to facilitate financial investment in development of the State. He described their response as encouraging.

Arms, explosives recovered

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 15: Security forces today destroyed two hide-outs of the militants in Rajouri and Poonch districts and recovered arms, ammunition and explosives.

About 6 kg RDX, four grenades and 50 AK rounds were recovered by security forces during a search operation in Chakli forest area of Dharamshal police station in Rajouri district.

Another hide-out of the ultras was smashed at Katarlay Ban in Sarhuti area under the jurisdiction of Gursai police station in Poonch district. Recoveries made from the hide-out include one AK rifle, three magazines, 56 rounds, one IED, 11 pistol rounds and two grenades.

No arrests were made from any of the two hide-outs, sources said.

Valley to have longest tunnel in Indian railway network

NEW DELHI, Mar With an aim to connect the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country through rail link, work on a 11-km tunnel — the longest in Indian railway network — is being carried out between Banihal and Qazigund in Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides the most modern ventilation and drainage system, the tunnel will also have a service road along the railway track for emergency usage.

"The tunnel will be the longest in the Indian Railway network," said a senior official of ircon.

IRCON is entrusted with the responsibility of constructing the 187-km-long railway network from Baramulla to Sangaldan as part of the Kashmir rail link project.

Passing through the Pir Panjal mountain, the tunnel is being constructed with the state-of-the-art technology.

"We are using the most modern technology of New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) with the help of six German consultants," the official said, adding, "our engineers are also involved in designing of and constructing the tunnel."

The natm allows frequent review of the tunnel design keeping the typical geological condition of the area. "Here the rock is generally disintegrated and fractured," the official said.

The work is going on at four places at a time and the tunnel, which will be eight metres high, will have to be completed by 2010.

About the service road, the official said since the tunnel is a long one, it was decided to have a three-metre road along the track "for emergency use of ambulance and small trucks, if required."

This will be the first-of-its-kind tunnel in the country which will have a service road along, the official said.

The 340-km long Kashmir rail link project aims to link katra with Baramulla through Reasi, Laoli, Banihal, Anantnag and Srinagar.

"The construction of Banihal-Qazigund section which will have the longest tunnel is quite challenging. The alignment passes through difficult terrain with thick forests, deep gorges and the inaccessible steep mountains, the official said.

IRCON had made extensive use of information technology in conducting the survey, design and project management.

"We have to create digital terrain model from contour maps and study alignment using geological mapping," he said.

"We have already constructed the tunnel upto 4.5 km."

There will be a total of 22 shelters in the tunnel for maintaining power supply and other essential services. Adequate lighting and ventilation system would be installed. (PTI)

Keep off J&K : India tells OIC

NEW DELHI, Mar India today strongly rejected the comments on Jammu and Kashmir contained in the final document of the Organisation of Islamic Countries’ (OIC) Summit held at Dakar in Senegal, saying the OIC has no locus standi in matters concerning India’s internal affairs.

Expressing regret that the OIC in the documents issued following the OIC Summit held in Dakar on March 13-14, a spokesman for the External Affairs Ministry said the OIC had once again chosen to comment upon Jammu and Kashmir and issues internal to India.

"The OIC has no locus standi in matters concerning India’s internal affairs, including Jammu and Kashmir which is an integral part of India. We strongly reject all such comments," the spokesman added.

The OIC final communique, issued after the conclusion of the 11th ^{Summit, reaffirmed solidarity of the Islamic world with the people of Jammu and Kashmir.}

^{It called for the solution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people.}

^{The Summit also adopted a resolution tabled by Pakistan on Jammu and Kashmir.}

^(UNI)